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The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, has signed an economic blueprint for Ibadan, one of Nigeria’s oldest and largest cities. The move comes just over a year after he set up a high-powered committee to drive the city’s economic revival. It is the clearest sign yet that the palace wants to be a working partner in Ibadan’s economy and not only its cultural centre. The harder part starts now, which is turning a signed document into factories, jobs and dependable infrastructure.
To see why the signing matters, it helps to go back to how Ladoja framed his reign. He is a former governor of Oyo State and a former senator, and he was crowned the 44th Olubadan. At the time he assured local and foreign investors of a conducive business environment and promised to revive moribund businesses and create jobs for young people in Ibadanland and across Oyo State. He said the throne was not about wearing beads but about advancing the town’s socio-economic fortunes. In his words, “Ibadan is a fertile land for investment and economic growth.”
The promise became an institution in October 2025. Ladoja inaugurated the Monarch Investment and Economic Committee, a body charged with repositioning the ancient city as a leading economic hub. A statement from his media aide said former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Onikepo Akande, would chair it, with former Head of Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, as co-chairman. The monarch said members were picked because they are business brands and successful entrepreneurs with experience the council wanted to tap. The list also included a former group managing director of First Bank of Nigeria, Dr Kazeem Sola Adeduntan.
At that inauguration the Olubadan was specific about what he wanted undone. He lamented the collapse of once-thriving Ibadan industries such as Leyland, Exide Battery, Wire and Cable, Isoglass and Ferodo, and stressed the need to revive industrial activity so jobs could return and the city’s economic pride could be restored. He told the gathering the committee’s task was to restore the city’s lost economic vibrancy and attract fresh investment. Those names are a reminder that Ibadan once had a deeper industrial base than it does today. Any blueprint worth the name has to start from that history.
Practical obstacles were already on the table by late 2025. Ladoja said the Olubadan-in-Council had set up the Economic and Investment Committee to tackle problems facing manufacturers in Ibadanland, such as electricity, water and roads. He told a visiting delegation from the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Association of Oyo State that producing goods, rather than only distributing them, maximises gains and creates jobs. The management of JAIZ Bank’s Ibadan branch separately pledged support for the city’s development. Taken together, these signals point to a plan that leans on production and private capital more than on ceremony.
Ladoja has also been careful about how he describes his own role. “We are all governing Ibadan,” he said, adding that he saw himself as a coordinator. That framing matters for a document of this kind. A traditional ruler has influence, convening power and the trust of many residents, but little direct control over power supply, roads or public budgets. Success will depend on how well the palace can bring in chiefs, business associations, investors and government agencies behind a common list of priorities.
The national backdrop is part of the story too. At the coronation, President Bola Tinubu declared that the economy had turned the corner following the reforms introduced by his government over two years earlier. The remarks were reported by Arise News. Whether households and small manufacturers in Ibadan feel that turn is a separate question, and the blueprint will be judged against it. Readers following how Nigerian businesses are coping with reforms, energy costs and funding can find broader coverage on Business Tech. arise
There is also a state-level layer. Governor Seyi Makinde signed a N892 billion budget for 2026 in December last year, with a stated priority on production over consumption. A palace blueprint cannot replace that kind of public spending, but it can point it in a direction and give investors a clearer picture of what the city’s leadership wants. That is an observation about how governance is structured, not a criticism of the document.
What the public does not yet know is considerable. The reports reviewed for this article do not publish the blueprint’s targets, costings, timelines or the projects it ranks first. They also do not say how it will be financed or how progress will be measured and reported. Those are the details investors, manufacturers and residents will want to see, and the committee or the palace is the natural source for them. A plan of this kind lives or dies on sequencing, and on whether each part has an owner who can be held to account.
The strengths on record are real. The effort was led by people with experience in government and finance. The monarch has tied it to a clear and popular objective, which is jobs for young people. He has also kept the language inclusive, which is useful in a city where chieftaincy, family compounds and local associations all carry weight in community decisions.
The risks are just as plain. Blueprints in Nigeria have a long record of being launched with fanfare and left to gather dust once the room empties. Industrial revival needs steady electricity, water, road access and affordable credit, none of which a ceremony can supply. Investors typically ask for land clarity, security and predictable rules before committing money, and each of those depends partly on institutions outside the palace.
Still, the signing gives Ibadan something it can be measured against. Residents can now ask which projects will start first, who will report on progress and when. Manufacturers can ask what the council plans to do about power, water and roads. Local government and state officials can be asked how they intend to align with it. The coming months will show whether the blueprint becomes a working plan or stays on the shelf. For a city that once hosted well-known factories and now talks about getting them back, that is a fair test.
